Just wondering if there are any takers here... 

I was watching Mulholland Drive a few weeks ago (for the umpteenth time) and had the ten clues written on a post it inside the DVD case.  I decided to try and look at them again with a fresh perspective, forgetting all of my preconceived notions and the preconceived notions of others (easier said than done, btw) with regard to analysis.

i would disagree that Theroux is the dark side, as you say.

 But I love this theory! Seems pretty sound to me.

I just happened to watch MD last night; I do not recall any of those close brow shots you speak of between Harring and Theroux. 

This would look good on your wall.

-Noah- 

These particular extreme close ups that I remember are these ones:

• Betty and Rita when they deal with the black purse and its dangerous content.
• Betty and Adam on Sylvia North Story's set, making eye contact.

"Did they scoff the whole damn Smörgåsbord?" (Audrey) 

"Gimme a donut!" (Coop)

 As far as that goes, in my mind, it was more, dark glasses, dark clothes, dark hair, type thing not necessarily dark as in evil...heh heh

Got halfway through last night, making too many notes...I think I'm definitely on to something.  I will say that I think the Castigliani cartel represents death chasing down Adam and Rita, trying to find them, as Betty tries to keep Rita safe.  Dan Hedeya's character gives us another insight as he yells "Capi!" in the espresso spitting scene, which is Italian for "heads" (3 heads) as if toi get their attention that Betty must sell out because immediatley after Angelo says "This is the girl"...meaning who Betty is supposed to become by selling out so that they can finally just die and move on to the next life. Adam resides/hides inside Rita, as per everytime we see Adam (in first hour so far) it is immediately after Rita either sleeps or freaks out and we pan in to her face.

And Ruth sees Rita both as Rita first enters her apartment (you may think not but watch again) and as she finds the keys (Rita is WAY too obvious under there.  But it is OK with Ruth because it is her niece and she is allowing her to hide there from Death...she loves her.

I think the blonde Camilla Rhodes is what Betty is supposed to be once she sells out, hence the lezzy kiss at the party later.  "Diane, sell (out to) win (move to next life)." "Die, and sell (out to) win."=Diane Selwyn.

Apartments/Rooms are safe places in the human psyche in which to hide, which is why Aunt Ruth is letting her hide there, they have "an understanding" and also the note on the robe Ruth left says:

"Enjoy yourself Bitsie..." Enjoy your SELF...she puts the robe on Rita. Bitsie, the only place I have EVER heard that word is in the Itsy Bitsy spider song, which is a cyclical song...up the spout (life) rain comes down (death) sun comes up (re-incarnation, remember we're talking DL here) and up spout again...

Just some thoughts as this plays out.

I could be totally wrong about all of this...but its fun anyway.

Oh, and Cookie says his credit cards (future pay) are cancelled (because he has NO future as Adam) and in mid sentence he says "Vaya Garland" in Spanish... "Go to/with Garland" (Judy Garland is dead and we know about DL's fascination with her). Also in Room 16 at that hotel we see a map on the wall and a picture of the virgin Mary on the wall and in the next scene we see Rita and Betty looking at the same map and Louise, dressed sort of Virginally Marily comes a knockin bearing the truth "Thats not your name"...Mary, according to Christians, also was the bearer of Truth, Jesus.

I love MD and I think this is a pretty cool intrepretation of the film. It makes sense that this is the story of Diane's adaptation to death.

 As for Theroux repping the Id: he's a director. An interesting fact about film directors is that no one tells them, "No." Studio's believe that they must do what a director wants and keep them happy. This fits with the notion that the Id wants all the time and needs the ego help it adjust when it faces frustration getting what it wants.

Just my little contribution to the thread.  

There are some cool ideas here! I particularly like the idea that the director represents the Id.

 I was kind of surprised to read this here, as I am actually writing my own semi-Freudian analysis of Lost Highway. I have found it very, very easy to assign characters to the Id, Superego and Ego in that movie - Mr Eddie is Mr Iddie, Mystery Man fits perfectly as the Superego, and Fred/Pete is the conflicted Ego. I'll post my analysis up here when it's done. Freud himself gave a great summary of the concept of Id, Ego and Superego:

 "The human mind is...basically a battlefield. He is a dark-cellar in which a well-bred spinster lady (the superego) and a sex-crazed monkey (the id) are forever engaged in mortal combat, the struggle being refereed by a rather nervous bank clerk (the ego)."

My theory is that Lost Highway represents what happens when the Ego loses control of the Id and Superego. I'm quite proud of the fact that I came up with this interpretation on my first viewing of the movie, and haven't seen a similar one online. Rabid Muse, you have inspired me to finish that essay! What did it for me was the scene when the mystery man forces Eddie/Laurent to watch his own depravity on video. That's the superego through-and through! Mind you, thanks to DL's fantastic approach to film-making, there isn't just one interpretation. The same goes for MD. MD can be read in several ways. I think whilst making MD, Lynch became more and more interested in describing the film-making process itself, and everything I've heard so far about IE indicates that he has continued this line of thought with his latest movie also.